School and caterer break silence and damning zero food hygiene

Caterlink, which operates at Gorse Hill Primary School in Avening Road, was handed the lowest possible score after being inspected on Wednesday, October 11.

Swindon Borough Council’s Environmental Health team stated that the canteen required immediate and urgent improvement in a damning report.

The school, which is attended by over 400 pupils, has now responded to the zero-out-of-five hygiene rating and the critical report.

The canteen was given a zero-rated hygiene score. (Image: Getty)

A spokesperson for Gorse Hill Primary School said: “Food hygiene standards are extremely important to us and we were disappointed to learn of the issues highlighted in the report from Swindon Borough Council’s Environmental Health team. 

“We have been working together with Caterlink, our catering contractor, to ensure urgent improvements to food hygiene standards are made at pace. 

“We were revisited by the council’s health team very soon after the initial inspection and they were satisfied that standards were being met, so the canteen could continue to prepare food safely.

“We are absolutely committed to offering safely prepared, nutritious meals for our pupils and we hope that a reassessment in the coming months will highlight the significant improvements made.”

The school is located in Gorse Hill, Swindon. (Image: Dave Cox)

Inspectors on the day found that the Gorse Hill canteen’s hygienic food handling needed major improvement.

This refers to the hygienic handling of food including preparation, cooking, re-heating, cooling and storage.

Caterlink’s management of food safety also was deemed to be in urgent requirement of major improvement.

This refers to having a system or checks in place to ensure that food sold or served is safe to eat.

It also covers whether there is evidence that staff know about food safety and that the food safety officer has confidence that standards will be maintained in future.

The catering team was handed the bottom score for food hygiene. (Image: NQ Staff)

A spokesperson for Caterlink said: “We were disappointed with the result of a recent visit from the Swindon EHO.

“Since the initial inspection, we have been revisited by the EHO several times who have been satisfied that the required hygiene standards are being met by Caterlink.

“We hope to welcome the EHO back in the coming months to be reassessed and demonstrate our commitment to delivering high-quality standards for our pupils.”

The report also found that the cleanliness and condition of facilities and buildings were also in need of major improvement.

Having the appropriate layout, ventilation, hand washing facilities and pest control to enable good food hygiene all comes into consideration.